About Us . . .

We're just a couple of guys who like making things out of woo﻿d.

All business endeavors start somewhere. Ours started something like this:

Justin: We should build a canoe.Kevin: What? No. Why would we do that?Justin: Because it'd be fun and it can't be that hard, right?Kevin: No. I'm not building a canoe.

We didn't know it at the time, but that conversation was the seed that grew into Winnebago Paddles. Over the course of the next several months, we somehow ended up with three canoes, countless compliments, some swollen pride, and A LOT of saw dust. Then, some déjà vu:

Justin: We should build some wooden canoe paddles.﻿Kevin: Have fun with that. I'm going to buy some cheap plastic ones.Justin: That's crazy! You can't buy canoe paddles after you build a canoe!Kevin: No. I'm not building canoe paddles.

﻿﻿So this story has a pretty predictable ending, as you can see. Despite some of the resistance along the way, Kevin took to paddle making quite naturally and started making what is now Winnebago Paddles on his own. Justin was invited back into the shop after Kevin began receiving some positive response from paddlers about the style and craftsmanship of the paddles he was producing. It's just the two of us for now, and it turns out we balance each other's strengths of attention to detail and efficiency quite well.

Winnebago Paddles is more than just a business to us; it's a hobby and a passion. While some of our competitors boast of making over 50 paddles in any given week, we boast the opposite and aim to produce about 3-5 paddles each week. This allows us the extra time and attention to detail that other manufacturers seem to overlook. We love trying a new style or doing something someone’s never done before - that’s what makes it so gratifying for us! If we can share that satisfaction with others and make a few bucks along the way, everyone is a winner!